A special education legal resource discussing case law, news, practical advocacy advice, and developments in state and federal laws, statutes and regulations. Postings include insight and sometimes humor from Charles P. Fox, a Chicago, Illinois attorney who is also a parent of child with special needs, and other guest authors. Email: [email protected]

December 19, 2017

The current round of tax "overhaul" legislation and repeal of net neutrality rules will have wide ranging and mostly negative effective on students with disabilities. This blog is the first in a series of blogs on the effects of these legal changes on students and others with disabilities. On December 14, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to repeal an Obama-era regulation that ensured net neutrality. The Restoring Internet Freedom Order, which had been implemented in 2015 to prevent the blocking, throttling, or paid prioritization of content on the internet, was designed to ensure that use of the internet was a right and not a privilege. The effects of the net neutrality repeal have left many educators and advocates deeply concerned about its impact on education, both at the K-12 level as well as higher level education. Shockingly, the FCC itself appeared to have not weighed these considerations. Several senators noted by letter prior to the December 14th vote that the 210-page proposal from the FCC never even mentioned the word “student” or “students.”